


And They Were Lab Partners...

by TheSpace_Dragon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Lab Partners, Pining, Pining Lotor, Strangers to lab partners, its cute lmao, lance and lotor are best friends and living together, lotor and allura are taking some crazy physics class for credit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 12:45:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14671388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpace_Dragon/pseuds/TheSpace_Dragon
Summary: A new semester, new classes. One would think that in your last year of college and taking some insane physics class that you wouldn't happen to be partnered with your crush of two or three years for the lab portion. At least not for the whole semester. But you know, things are never that easy. Lotor finds this out the hard way.





	And They Were Lab Partners...

**Author's Note:**

> I feel so bad, but this was supposed to be for the Ship Exchange on tumblr, the mods were incredibly gracious to give me a week extension, but life happened and now I'm here, nearly three weeks late and I finally managed to finish this.
> 
> I hope you like it [@locallotor](https://locallotor.tumblr.com/)!

> **Lothario** : psssst  
>  **Lothario** : PSSSST  
>  **Lothario** : Lotor omfg answer me D:<  
>  **TheTuringHand** : what lance  
>  **Lothario** : omg ok, so heres the deal  
>  **Lothario** : we need to go to this party this weekend ok? all the greek girls are going to be there  
>  **TheTuringHand** : we have a paper due monday  
>  **Lothario** : yeah and? i bet youre already done with it  
>  **TheTuringHand** : thats besides the point  
>  **TheTuringHand** : im not going  
>  **TheTuringHand** : and im not going to help you with your paper either  
>  **Lothario** : boo you whore :(((  
>  **TheTuringHand** : kolivan is going to brain you with the eraser again if you keep texting me  
>  **Lothario** : like he hasn't done it to you before  
>  **TheTuringHand** : he actually likes me more than he likes you  
>  **Lothario** : thats because youre a suck up ;D 

Lotor glared at Lance out of the corner of his eye as he responded.

> **TheTuringHand:** suck up I may be, but at least my grades aren't leeched off of others  
>  **Lothario** : GASP

"YOU FUCKING TAKE THAT BACK!" Lance hissed at him, kicking at Lotor from his seat next to him.

"Is something wrong with what I just said, Diaz?"

Both of them looked to the front of the lecture hall at their professor, who was standing stoically at the podium and glaring at the two of them. Lance cowered behind his computer, eyes wide and positively scared of what their pre-law professor could do.

"Well?" Kolivan probed, arching a heavy eyebrow.

"N-n-nothing, sir." Lance ducked his head and looked down at his notebook. Lotor kept to himself, taking the extra time to catch up with the powerpoint slides their professor was going over.

Kolivan harrumphed, but let the situation slide, not wanting to delay the class any more than he already had. He turned and went back to lecturing, casting wary glances over at Lance and Lotor as the class continued. Typical behavior for whenever he was caught not paying attention to class.

Eventually, class came to an end and the two of them packed up their stuff, and just as if Lance was a shaken soda, he erupted into talking as soon as they were out of the room.

"C'mon, Lotor! You should totally come, you stuff yourself away into that room of yours all the freaking time, it would do you some good to get out!"

Lotor rolled his eyes, shaking his head as they made their way outside. "And I keep telling you, I have too many assignments to do this weekend. I do not have time to spare going out, Lance."

"Ughhhh, you're seriously turned into a brick, you know that?" Lance groaned, raking a hand through his hair. "What's your next class anyway? I have to head over to Oriande Hall for theatre."

"Olkaria, physics and all that," Lotor replied, pulling out his phone to double check the room number.

While it wasn't the beginning of the semester, they were only a few weeks in, and everyone was still getting settled into their routines. Not that they really had much to settle into, both he and Lance were in their fourth year at Daibazaal University. They had essentially grown up together, best friends through pretty much everything, and it was completely predictable that they would have a class or two together each semester. Perks of both of them being dual majors. Lotor himself was in aeronautical engineering and pre-law, pushed to pursue the career of a lawyer and not an engineer, it was the best solution he could come up with and not fight his parents over it. Lance, on the other hand, was simply doing what he wanted. Performance Arts and pre-law as well. Lotor would call him whimsical on his good days, wanting to go after something that would surely cause Lance some hardship, but his friend was insistent and doing his best. (At least when there weren't any parties that weekend, Lance was in his room doing his homework.) Lotor tried his best anyway.

"Shit dude, you have to haul ass over there? Good luck." Lance clapped him on the shoulder and set off in the opposite direction.

Lotor waved, not really caring either way. He was pretty sure that today in his physics class they would be paired with for labs for the rest of the semester. He really wasn't looking forward to it, but it was something he learned to just deal with. Most of the time, he was the one who did all the work simply because he *understood* what was happening in class and what was being asked. So, he passed and his lab partners would sit on their phones and keep quiet. Why stop the one person working when they got out in thirty minutes? They certainly weren't going to stop him.

With a hefty sigh, he started to head off to the material sciences building, Olkaria. He subverted most of the groups of students making their way between classes. He didn't miss the times where it was one general education class to the next and walking mass exodus style from one building to the next. Now it was running from one end of campus to the next and getting a cardio workout he definitely didn't need half the time.

He made his way into the classroom, talking all the back ways as he entered the building to avoid the extensive flow of students coming in and out of the building. Lotor dropped into a seat near the front and on the end of one of the rows in the lecture hall. He hated walking from the law building all the way here in less than ten minutes, it was awful trying to avoid the masses of students just out wandering campus. He went through his bag and pulled out his notebook and another pen and waited for the class to start.

Students filtered in, not many taking electromagnetism since it was an upper-level physics class that relied heavily on theory and estimations. Not his favorite, but he needed the credit for his aeronautical engineering.

And just like always, when *she* came in, it was like the whole class just stopped and watched her walk to her seat and sit down. Lotor did his best to try and not look like he was staring, but nearly every time he had this class, he was awestruck by her.

Allura Lione. Top of her class, top of everything really. Lotor had yet to find something that she *wasn't* good at. All he ever heard about her was that she was amazing, kind-hearted, and smarter than everyone in their class. It was amazing really. He never thought he would know of someone that everyone else only lauded over as if the ground she walked on was something to be worshipped and prayed over.

But he wasn't one of those people. No. Lance was the womanizer of his friend group, he couldn't afford to be another one.

The lecture hall filled up and Dr. Smythe--who insisted that everyone was to call him Coran, but no one really did so--began the lecture, bringing slide after slide of theory after theory and talking for who knew how long. (In reality, it was merely thirty minutes, but they had to cover all the bases before they could even begin to test parts of the theories.)

Toward the end of the lecture, Lotor wrapped his hair up into a ponytail, cursing at the Olkaria building air conditioning. Arus autumns were always hot and humid, and nearly all the buildings on the campus had old and outdated AC units that couldn't keep up with the high volume of bodies in the buildings. Some of his bangs fell down into his face as he continued to glance up and down from the projector to his notes, making sure he got everything down.

"Alright, chaps! That's all I have for the day, but as you know, we have our laboratory section today and all of you need partners," Coran said excitedly. The roughly forty other students in the room began to murmur amongst themselves as he struggled to switch the screens so they could see the pairings list. "Ah, there we are! Here you go, all of the stations in the laboratory are numbered and you will meet your partner there. Have fun!"

Lotor scanned the list, looking toward the bottom since Zarkonsson always put his name at the end of any list.

_Station Eleven: Lione | Zarkonsson_

He gaped at the screen, distantly hearing the various gasps and cheers around the room, including the few groans from students who didn't know their partners.

He knew his, though. He knew *about* his. Distractedly, he gathered up his belongings and headed out of the lecture hall, scrambling for his phone.

> **TheTuringHand** : this semester just got so much fucking worse  
>  **Lothario** : wtf happened? its only been an hour  
>  **TheTuringHand** : no lance you dont get it  
>  **TheTuringHand** : i just got my partner for the lab portion of my physics course  
>  **TheTuringHand** : and its her  
>  **Lothario** : her? whos her?  
>  **TheTuringHand** : HER lance, Her  
>  **Lothario** : ????  
>  **Lothario** : dude who the fuck are you talking about???  
>  **TheTuringHand** : ugh my gods you are dim sometimes  
>  **Lothario** : ill pretend not to read that and stay here for the sudden bomb youre about to drop  
>  **TheTuringHand** : i am partnered with allura lione  
>  **Lothario** : !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
>  **Lothario** : NO FUCKING WAY  
>  **Lothario** : THATS FUCKING AMAZING  
>  **Lothario** : youve been crushing on her for 4 fucking years dude  
>  **TheTuringHand** : i have not  
>  **Lothario** : you have dont deny it  
>  **Lothario** : anyway  
>  **Lothario** : THIS IS YOUR CHANCE  
>  **Lothario** : i have so many pick up lines you can use this is going to be fucking amazing i cant wait ahahah  
>  **TheTuringHand** : i am not going to use your pick up lines on a girl that may very well be smarter than i am  
>  **Lothario** : dude shes smarter than most of the professors we have here at DBU  
>  **Lothario** : shes only here to get the credit for being here  
>  **Lothario** : she doesnt even study  
>  **TheTuringHand** : there is no way someone is naturally that smart  
>  **Lothario** : have you met pidge?  
>  **Lothario** : or hunk even?  
>  **Lothario** : those guys dont study either and are a whiz at everything  
>  **Lothario** : theyre in that class just listen to them talk sometime  
>  **TheTuringHand** : no i have not met them  
>  **Lothario** : ok im writing that down as another reason to come to the part this weekend  
>  **Lothario** : OH LIGHTBULB IDEA  
>  **Lothario** : invite allura  
>  **Lothario** : she can totes come  
>  **TheTuringHand** : ok 1) do  not ever use totes in an actual conversation again  
>  **TheTuringHand** : and 2) i do not even know her. i doubt she even knows i exist  
>  **Lothario** : lotor bro  
>  **Lothario** : youre the smartest person i know in like everything  
>  **Lothario** : im sure shes heard of you at some point  
>  **Lothario** : its about time the two of you meet

Lotor sighed and rubbed his forehead, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was either going to be a disaster or a Disaster. He had no idea what to expect when it came to working with her. Either she was here because her parents were affluent and in high circles, or she was actually as smart as everyone said. But he had no way of knowing that.

Gods above he was going to lose his mind.

With the biggest mental shove he could muster, he forced himself to enter the lab room and search for station eleven.

And of course, she was already there, talking with another student to the station next to them. He had never felt more intimidated in his life, and Allura was just... _there_. He had no reason to be feeling like this, but he was struggling so hard just to keep his composure. (It certainly didn't help that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on. Dark skin and immaculate silver hair, the dye job looked like it was completely natural for her to have silver hair. Like what the hell? There was no way--okay, he was getting off track here.)

Lotor made his way over to the station and sat down in the seat next to her, not interrupting her conversation and barely even making a sound. He quietly unpacked his notebook and started to log in on the computer in front of them. Allura already had her notebook out, a purple pen lying across the paper. Minutes ticked by and she was still talking to the student next to them, smiling and nodding, being so genuine, Lotor thought it had to hurt.

The computer booted up and he logged into their school website and navigating to their lab section on the class portal. He completely blocked out the conversation next to him. _Focus, Lotor, focus. She is nothing but your lab partner._

"Oh hi! I didn't realize you were here, sorry for ignoring you."

Lotor jumped and glanced over at her, mentally kicking himself for being as awkward as he was. He was never this awkward, never! He was cool and distant, focused.

But that all dissolved apparently when faced with a beautiful woman sitting next to him.

"O-oh, it's--it's fine, don't worry about it," he stammered, turning away and looking at the computer screen. Great, the TAs hadn't put anything in the folders yet.

Allura smiled, clicking her pen and writing the date down in her notebook. "Okay, it's nice to meet you, I'm Allura."

 _Gods her voice_ \--"I know--agh, shit, sorry, I'm Lotor. And I, well, you could say I already knew about you."

She arched a perfect eyebrow. Why was everything about her so perfect? "Ah-ha...well, hopefully, you've heard nothing bad, I assume?" she laughed lightly, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

Lotor shook his head, jotting things down in his own notebook, various things in Swedish as he continued to try and not freak out. "No no, nothing negative at all. Maybe some jealousy, but that's a sign of admiration in some regard."

Allura snorted, hiding her mouth behind a hand as she giggled. "Haha, well, I can't argue with you there."

"I would hope not, winning arguments is what lawyers do." He grinned at her for half a second before returning to his serious facade as the TAs for the lab began to talk.

Like all first labs, the first time they were to do anything was simply to check that the equipment was working. In other words: boring as fuck. Lotor even caught Allura sighing an extreme amount as the three-hour lab wore on and on, becoming exhausting. Lotor felt like bashing his head against the computer as time continued to move at a snail's pace.

This was going to be a _looooonnnggg_ lab.

Over the course of nearly three hours, Lotor and Allura made small talk here and there, testing equipment and so on. It was boring, tedious, and time-consuming as they went through all the different machines and so one. Spectrometer, neodymium magnets, electroscope, voltmeter, ammeter, power resistors, a resonance tube, stroboscope and etc., by the end of the list Lotor and Allura were drained.

After what felt like an eternity in the cramped basement lab, the TAs finally declared that they could leave. Lotor gathered his things, stuffing his notebook in his backpack and his pen behind his ear before standing up.

"It, uh, it was good to meet you, Allura," he mumbled, "see you next week."

She smiled up at him, blindingly bright. "Of course! It was lovely to meet you as well, Lotor. See you next week!"

He nodded awkwardly and turned to leave the room, her words echoing around in his head like some never-ending playback loop. _Lovely to meet you, lovely to meet you, lovely to meet you_. He honestly didn't know what to feel about those words. Logic mandated that she was simply being cordial and that he wasn't supposed to take anything away from such a brief interaction, but irrational emotions were running rampant in his head and he was going to need a serious drink when he got back to his room. Thank the gods he lived off campus with Lance. Dry campus rules were so hard to maintain when you were a stressed-out student.

> **Lothario** : sooooo  
>  **Lothario** : how did it go  
>  **TheTuringHand** : it went, what else was supposed to happen?  
>  **Lothario** : YOU FUCKING DUMBASS  
>  **Lothario** : YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO INVITE HER TO THE PARTY THIS WEEKEND  
>  **TheTuringHand** : huh? since when?  
>  **Lothario** : since i suggested it!!!!

Lotor did his best not to crush his phone as he walked to his next class. Lance was impossible sometimes and he was questioning his reasons for being friends with the loud-mouthed boy for the umpteenth time that day. But alas, no answer came to him to leave and thus, he was stuck with Lance.

> **TheTuringHand** : i literally just met her. why would i invite her to a party that she is more than likely already going to and i won't be?  
>  **TheTuringHand** : seems to me like that would be a waster of hers and mine time  
>  **Lothario** : jeez, what crawled up your ass and died?  
>  **Lothario** : its like you have never EVER have tried to ask a girl out  
>  **TheTuringHand** : judging by your track record, you have asked out plenty of girls for me  
>  **Lothario** : again with the insults today!?  
>  **Lothario** : im just trying to help dude  
>  **TheTuringHand** : it has been a long day, i'll see you when you get back to the apartment  
>  **Lothario** : ://// ok man dont get hit by a car  
>  **TheTuringHand** : it would be worse for the driver than it would me 

Lotor put his phone in his pocket and hefted his bag on to his shoulders more squarely. He pulled out his sunglasses and headed off to his apartment in the late afternoon sun.

* * *

A few weeks pass and much of everything stays the same. They go to their classes, Lance texts him constantly (and yes, he did help Lance with his paper, much to his chagrin), and Lotor finds himself continually getting more and more comfortable around Allura. It was a surprise to him when Lance pointed it out, honestly, it wasn't like Lance was _that_ observant when it came to people beside himself.

> **Lothario** : yo so whwne are you going to ask her out?  
>  **TheTuringHand** : what?  
>  **Lothario** : you and allura  
>  **TheTuringHand** : still dont know what youre talking about  
>  **Lothario** : are you serious rn?  
>  **Lothario** : god and you say that IM the dense fuck  
>  **TheTuringHand** : you still are  
>  **Lothario** : ignoring that  
>  **TheTuringHand** : you ignore almost everything i say  
>  **Lothario** : ignoring that too btw  
>  **TheTuringHand** : ok whatever, what do you want lance?  
>  **Lothario** : for you to grow a pair and ask her out you dumbass  
>  **TheTuringHand** : why would i do that, she probably is already seeing someone  
>  **TheTuringHand** : she has people waiting on her all the time  
>  **Lothario** : so?  
>  **Lothario** : not everyone ends up with s/o just because their popular, you know that right  
>  **TheTuringHand** : no i dont. ive never been graced with being around popular people  
>  **Lothario** : wtf?  
>  **Lothario** : I EXIST LOTOR  
>  **TheTuringHand** : ?? i know this, we live together  
>  **Lothario** : omfg i seriously want to deck you rn  
>  **TheTuringHand** : id like to see you try  
>  **Lothario** : fuck you  
>  **Lothario** : but seriously dude  
>  **Lothario** : ask her out  
>  **TheTuringHand** : now why would i do that??? we hardly know each other  
>  **Lothario** : youre thinking about this all the wrong way  
>  **Lothario** : this isnt highschool where you cant take someone out if you dont know them  
>  **Lothario** : the whole purpose of going on dates is to see if you like the person  
>  **Lothario** : its not a relationship till you both say it is  
>  **TheTuringHand** : ...  
>  **TheTuringHand** : since when did you suddenly have all this relationship advice?  
>  **Lothario** : i take great insult to that but since you asked  
>  **Lothario** : you learn a few things when you get rejected  
>  **TheTuringHand** : how do i know that you didnt just give me a bunch of bullshit?  
>  **Lothario** : asshole, you fucking sigh dreamily when you work on your physics homework and its annoying as fuck  
>  **Lothario** : im trying to end my suffering here  
>  **TheTuringHand** : just like youre still suffering away in Nymas shadow?  
>  **Lothario** : aijdfbnf  
>  **Lothario** : way to kick a man when hes down  
>  **TheTuringHand** : she just rejected you again didnt she?  
>  **Lothario** : HOW DID YOU KNOW  
>  **TheTuringHand** : lance we live together, grew up together, and i watched you be rejected by numerous men and women. i know the signs  
>  **Lothario** : ok fair point  
>  **Lothario** : but no nyma talk for like three days  
>  **Lothario** : i had flowers and everything and was still rejected  
>  **Lothario** : it stings man  
>  **TheTuringHand** : youll be fine, ill buy you some spiced rum on the way back  
>  **Lothario** : thx youre the best ;u; 

Lotor sighed and shook his head as he walked into the physics building, heading toward the lecture hall. New topic, new lab; the routine was almost beginning to grow boring. Maybe Lance was right and he should try to ask Allura out; a long shot in its own right but, worth a shot, right?

Fuck who was he kidding, he should just give up now and move on. No point in pining after someone who wouldn't ever return the favor.

_Knock-knock_

Lotor cursed the fates as his phone went off and another text from Lance came through.

> **Lothario** : DONT YOU DARE WHIMP OUT ABOUT ASKING ALLURA OUT  
>  **Lothario** : JUST DO IT YOU PANSY ASS MOTHER FUCKER 

If only the world had enough air within the atmosphere to let him sigh endlessly till he passed on to the afterlife. He muted his phone and shoved it in his pocket, ignoring the way it began to feel heavier and heavier with each subsequent message from Lance reached his phone. Lotor entered the lecture hall and sat down in the back this time, just sitting in the first seat he came across. He pulled out his notebook and dropped his head into his hands.

Gods above, he hated Lance but there would be no living without him. Sighing, he picked up his head and set about getting a pen out of his backpack, digging through different compartments.

A blue pen appeared in front of him, held by a perfectly immaculate hand--soft pink nails set on warm, tan skin. He looked up, eyes wide with shock and awe as he began to realize that Allura was seated next to him and holding a pen out to him.

She smiled, head tilting slightly. "Lost one?"

Still a little dumbstruck, Lotor simply nodded and awkwardly took the pen. "Uh...uhm, yeah, guess so."

She turned and brought out another pen and set it on the desk before her, right next to her own notebook, pristine compared to his tattered and falling apart notebook. Lotor couldn't figure out why she was sitting next to him, even after becoming partners in their lab, she still never went out of her way to sit with him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, looking her over and trying to find the logic behind her recent actions.

Nothing made sense, and as class began, their professor starting to ramble on about the latest discovering in the physics world. Without looking away from their teacher, Allura reached over with her pen and wrote in loopy and almost perfect cursive:

_Is everything alright?_

Lotor looked over, raising an eyebrow. Even then, she didn't look over and continued to write.

_You never sit in the back of the class -- made me a little worried._

She was worried about him? Lotor swallowed hard. He uncapped the pen she gave him and wrote underneath her two notes slowly.

_Just distracted. Nothing major._

Allura looked over briefly and began to write immediately.

_Is everything alright?_

_Yes._

There was a small pause. _What is bothering you Lotor?_

He didn't immediately know how to respond to that. There were many things that were bothering him, the unbelievable weight of his phone in his pocket and the beautiful women sitting next to him -- concerned for him. He didn't know how to respond to that. Allura turned to eye him over, assessing him with those brilliant blue eyes, intelligence and caring shining in them.

 _Something is troubling you yes?_ she wrote.

He nodded, keeping his eyes locked on the paper between them, slowly filling up with their writing -- her neat cursive and his angular manuscript. He knew what was bothering him, the foremost one sitting right next to him. But how could he put it into words? How could he simply just say "hey I like you a lot, want to get some coffee?" He wasn't Lance, he wasn't forthright with his emotions, he couldn't just bluntly state it. Allura started to draw on her own notebook, copying down the diagram on the powerpoint slides Professor Smythe had moved onto.

The war within himself was getting worse, and the last message that Lance had sent him was echoing around in his head (censored, of course): **_Just do it!_**

Well, better to say he tried than to never have at all.

He tapped the pen on the paper and began to write.

_I actually have something to ask you Allura._

She turned to face him completely, ignoring the rest of the lecture and giving him her undivided attention. Lotor took a deep breath and began to write.

 _...I wanted to ask you this for a long time now, but I never knew how. My friend has been trying to get me to do this for pretty much the whole semester since we were assigned as lab partners for this class."_ He could see her reading his message. _But, what I'm trying to ask is... if you want... would you like to get a coffee sometime?_

He heard her snort softly, catching a glimpse of her brilliant smile as she shook her head and placed a hand over his. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "Of course. How's tomorrow?"

Lotor turned and smiled at her. "I'd like that... I'd like that a lot."

"It's a date then." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she turned back to the front of the classroom.

He couldn't believe it had been that easy; he had thought that it would have taken something elaborate to ask her out. Maybe this would be the change of pace he needed, maybe... maybe this was meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all know the drill.
> 
> Tumblr: [thespace-dragon](http://thespace-dragon.tumblr.com/)


End file.
